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TRALA Granted a 90-Day Waiver from ELD Mandate

Today, the Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) was notified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that they have granted TRALA's request for a 90-Day waiver from the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate for short-term rental trucks (defined as 30 days or less). This decision will give all TRALA members until March 18, 2018 to take the necessary steps to get their trucks in compliance with the mandate as well as work with their customers to make the transition to ELDs as seamless as possible.

The ELD rule requires that nearly all drivers must use an ELD to record their hours-of-service requirements beginning on December 18, 2017. Though certain exemptions were given in the original rule, the FMCSA did not grant an exemption for all short-term rental trucks despite the myriad of issues that specifically would impact the rental industry and were cited by TRALA in its formal comments to the rule. After the rule was released, TRALA submitted a petition requesting a 5 year exemption from the ELD Mandate for trucks rented for 30 days or less. After the public comment period - during which over 300 comments were submitted in support of TRALAs exemption while less than 10 were opposed - and after nearly 6 months of deliberations, on October 24, 2017 the FMCSA granted a partial exemption to TRALA for rental trucks, but for only 8 days rather than the 30 days TRALA had requested.

Despite receiving a partial exemption, TRALA felt that FMCSA had not left TRALA members enough time to properly equip their fleet, and determine how to operate their rental fleets in compliance with the ELD mandate. TRALA continued to discuss further options with FMCSA to help ease the burden on the rental industry as TRALA members worked toward becoming fully in compliance with the mandate. After multiple calls and face to face discussions, TRALA organized a more expansive meeting between FMCSA and representatives from TRALA, Ryder, the American Trucking Associations, the American Truck Dealers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on November 16, 2017. This meeting focused on the impact the ELD mandate would have on fleets and their customers, specifically on small businesses which rely heavily on rental trucks during peak seasons. During this meeting, TRALA requested a 90-day waiver, which the FMCSA has the ability to grant without a public comment period. Per law, the FMCSA cannot grant an additional waiver beyond a one-time 90 day period. At the time, FMCSA agreed to consider the waiver request in an expeditious manner given the looming deadline fast approaching.

Now that he waiver has been approved, TRALA plans to work with its membership to determine whether or not 90 days is sufficient to address all of their concerns. TRALA will primarily focus on the lack of interoperability between ELD platforms, which will cause the biggest problems for rental company customers. If TRALA members determine that they need more time to build their systems and plan for how to operate under the ELD Mandate, TRALA will submit a new petition for a short-term exemption from the ELD mandate to give TRALA members longer than 90 days to become fully compliant with the mandate. This new petition - likely to be between 3-9 additional months past the waiver deadline of March 18, 2018 - would have to go through the formal comment period, so TRALA would need to submit this new petition to FMCSA sometime toward the end of January, 2018.

You may view the letter granting a 90-day waiver from the ELD mandate for rental trucks by clicking here.